Ruochen cup
Also called 若深杯 Ruoshen beiAlso called 若琛瓯 Ruochen ou
A tiny, thin-walled, shallow white or blue-and-white porcelain tasting cup with an everted rim, holding about 25 to 35 mL, traditionally arranged in a trio on the Chaoshan and Minnan gongfu tea table. Named after the four-character underglaze-blue commendation mark '若深珍藏' (or '若琛珍藏') painted on the base of Qing dynasty Jingdezhen cups, it is celebrated in Chaoshan tea lore as one of the 'Four Treasures of Gongfu Tea' for being 'small, shallow, white, and thin' (小、浅、白、薄).
On this page
- 1Rim
- 2Body
- 3Base
Form#
- Body
- shallow bowl-cup with a rounded lower belly and a gently flared (everted) mouth rim (撇口), roughly half a walnut or ping-pong ball in volume123
- Spout
- none (drinking cup)
- Handle
- none (handleless cup held by the flared rim and foot-ring)
- Base
- small, neat ring foot (圈足), traditionally inscribed inside the foot in underglaze cobalt blue with the four characters '若深珍藏'
Typical capacity#
20–35 mL (typical 30 mL)4
The 2023 Chaozhou gongfu tea technical draft gives 25 to 35 mL for the three white-porcelain tasting cups; historical Qing examples hold roughly 20 to 30 mL.
Variants and sub-types#
The Ruochen cup (若深杯, also written 若深珍藏 'Precious Collection of Ruoshen') is the canonical white-porcelain gongfu tasting cup of Chaozhou, Minnan, and Taiwan. Barely larger than a walnut shell, its shallow hemi-spherical belly, thin everted rim, and blue-and-white four-character base mark allow three cups arranged in a 'pin' (品) triangle to be filled in rapid circular passes (關公巡城, 韓信點兵).
| Variant | Rim & Belly Profile | Porcelain & Base Mark |
|---|---|---|
| Classic White Ruochen Cup (白瓷若深杯) | Shallow hemi-spherical bowl with a gently everted lip (撇口) and low ring foot; bright white interior shows exact liquor hue | High-fired Jingdezhen or Dehua white porcelain with underglaze-blue 楷書 or 篆書 base mark 若深珍藏 |
| Blue-and-White Landscape / Poetry Ruochen Cup (青花山水 / 詩文若深杯) | Same compact shallow profile with hand-painted or transfer underglaze cobalt river-landscape, bamboo, or poetic couplets on the exterior wall | Late-Qing to Republican Jingdezhen export 青花 porcelain and modern Chaozhou/Jingdezhen studio reproductions |
| Ultra-Thin 'Eggshell' Micro Ruochen Cup (薄胎小若深杯) | A thin-walled porcelain cup. Wall thickness and comfort when handling hot tea must be assessed on the individual example. | Fine high-whiteness Jingdezhen kaolin porcelain |
History#
- Qing, Kangxi to Qianlong reigns (late 17th–18th century)Jingdezhen kilns produced thin white-glazed and blue-and-white flare-rimmed small tea cups inscribed '若深珍藏' on the base; adopted in Chaoshan and southern Fujian, the name 'Ruoshen cup' (若深杯, also written 若琛杯 in Weng Huidong's 1957 潮州茶经) became the generic name for the canonical gongfu tea cup.2
- Qing to presentSummarised by Chen Zongmao (2000, p. 526 '若琛杯') in four characters: 'small, shallow, white, and thin'—small so a single sip finishes the liquor while hot, shallow so no drops linger, white to show the true amber-red colour of the infusion, and thin to transmit fragrance.1
Sources#
- 陈宗懋 主编《中国茶叶大辞典》(2000)
- 李炳炎、林楠：《潮州茶器（1860—2020）》，暨南大学出版社，2022. ISBN 9787566832412.
Bibliographic correction: the library copy is by Li Bingyan and Lin Nan, Jinan University Press, 2022. The former authors, publisher, year and claim of a complete reading were incorrect. Correcting this record does not verify every inherited claim citing it; those claims require passage-level review.
- 芳茗遠播：亞洲茶文化展（清代蓋碗、臺灣與工夫茶器） ↗
- DB4451/T 4—2023 潮州工夫茶艺技术规程（征求意见稿） ↗
Status and editorial notes sources cited
Sources are listed below. Their presence does not certify every claim; source-specific interpretations and unresolved questions are identified in the text. This page has not received independent expert approval.